Perspective Blushes Red

i.

Consider this,

A boy; dressed a little better

Than stark naked, hobbling

From here to there;

Looking for people more than food,

His small hands clutching dearly,

To a piece of bread

He comes up to me; I shoo him away,

He comes again; with renewed determination;

I buy him bread and ask him if he’s lost…

His eyes reply otherwise, he is right where he needs to be-

ii.

Life’s a rusty picture; 

Torn apart by aspirations and expectations,

Life’s not easy, never will be

A picture out of focus; a story untold, a poem unfinished, a play never played…

It is not easy as a garland of large poetic words, strung together uncomfortably

Or hard as death itself,

Life is everything death is not-

iii.

The broad faced girl, her hair splitting in two noodle-like braids,

‘Perhaps she has never tasted noodles in her life’

She wraps the delectable fries her mother makes

In a paper where she earlier did her homework;

Lines criss crossing,

Here and there, everywhere 

Not even caring for the page’s boundary…

‘But graphite’s supposed to be bad for health, isn’t it?’

I pay fifteen rupees and she eyes the money

As her hand reaches toward mine to grab it-

iv.

‘Life is like a forbidden kiss

By a stranger, on your lover’s lips’

Unfair, yes, by all means

Unsettling, yes, by all reasons

Unforgettable, yes, by all measures

And yet more-

v.

‘Bring chicken gravy’, I say

My mouth and mind full;

Of rice dressed in the choicest chicken

The boy nods, brings the same,

‘Did he bring a little less?’

‘Bring curry’, I say

I punish him;

I don’t need curry, not today

Maybe again tomorrow.